Sheet-feeding machine



Nov. 11, 1941.

L. L. MATTHEWS SHEET-FEEDING MACHINE Filed April 20, 1940- Patented Nov. 11, 1941 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE I 2,281,978 i I SHEET-FEEDING MACHINE Louis Landaii Matthews, Westerly, lit-1., assignor to Maxson Automatic Machinery Company, Westerly, R. L, a corporation of Rhode Island Application April 20, 1940, Serial No. 330,865 4,

11 Claims. (01. 271-76) The present invention relates to machines for feeding sheet material, such as paper and the like. The invention is particularly related to machines involving high speeds, like those used at paper mills for cutting webs from a roll or rolls into sheets, and feeding the sheets, by means of more or less horizontal conveyor tapes, into a lay-boy or other magazine. The sheets are fed by high-speed tapes to low-speed tapes by which they become overlapped, and it is in this overlapped condition that they arrive in the lay-boy.

In connection with machines of this character,

- it has been the practice to employ a slowing-' down carriage or support, illustrated, for example, in Letters Patent 1,545,910, issued'July 14, 1925, to Charles B. Maxson, at 56, manually adjustable along the path of feed of the sheets to accommodate difi'erent sheet lengths. The

carriage has been provided with idler 'wheels or rolls, shown in the said Letters Patent at 42,

disposed at intervals cross-wise of the machine,

Fig. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment oi the invention, in fragmentary side elevation; Fig. 2

is a corresponding plan, with parts broken away, for cleamess; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section, upon a larger scale, taken upon the line 3-8 of Fig. 2, looking inthe direction of the arrows.

It will be convenient to describe first two adjacently disposed upper and lower rolls 8'! and.

34 that extend transversely of the machine.- A

shaft 82, upon which the upper roll 81 is mounted, is positioned to the left of the shaft upon which the lower roll 84 is mounted, as illustrated. The I lower-roll 84 may be of the same nature as the for engaging or gripping the heads of the fast-. I

coming sheets against a cooperating idler roll 28, thereby to slow the sheets down. The'idler wheels 42 and the idler roll 28 have been free to turn in response to the .iriction exerted by the conveyor tapes and the paper sheets, as they went through the machine between the rolls 28 and 42.

If the idler roll 28 or the idler wheels 42, be-

coming lazy, did not turn, however, the paper sheets became mussed up. To insure their turning insoiar as possible, furthermore, it was necessary tomake the wheels 42 of considerable size. The consequent weight of these wheels 42 would cause injury, by marking, of delicate paper stock. Injury to stock of even less delicate nature has been frequently caused by the load" of stopping the high-speed sheet, imposed upon the head end of the sheet as it struck the rolls 28 and 42. This has involved considerable loss to high-grade pation with the accompanying drawing, in which roll 28 of the said Letters Patent. The upper roll 81, however, may be constituted of steel tubing upon which may be mounted a plurality-of rings 88 that may be constituted of a phenolcondensation or other suitable product, like Bakelite. TheBakelite rings, 88 are disposed all the way across the machine, close enough to one another so that there is just sumcient room between each twosuccessively disposed rings 88 for the passageoi'an upper relatively high-speed tape 8 between them. A plurality of rings ofsmaller diameter than the rings 88 are-thus exposed on the roll 81, alternating with the rings 88. The lower reaches 01' the high-speed tapes 8 each engages under one of these exposed rings of the roll 8!. The-rings 88 each extends down through between adiacently disposed high-speed tapes 8 into engagement' with relatively low-speed lower tapes 12, shown" mounted over rolls, 28 and 88.

In so engagingithelow-speed tapes 12, on their upper side, the 'rings 88, in combination withthe roll 84 engaging the tapes 12 on their lower side, impart a slight downward bend to the tapes 12 in the region illustrated at 88, between the rolls 84 and 812 f Sheets 88fot-paper the upper relatively high-speed tapes 8 and 00- operating lower relatively high-speed tapes 2.

Thehigh-speed tapes 2 are shown mounted over a roll i8, andthe high-speed tapes 8 over a roll I8. 'Iherelatively low-speed'tapes 12 are overlapped by, and. separated from, the high-speed, tapes '8, as shown; The roll 31 is thus disposed oppositetogthe high-speed tapes 8, but to one side of the high-speed tapes 2. e

The sheetsi88 are thus fed at relatively, high speed, confined; by the tapesv 2 and 8, 'over'the or other suitable material are shown in Fig. 1 engagedon opposite sides by roll it, to therelatively low-speed lower tapes 12,

but becomeun'conflned by the tapes 2 and 8 after leaving the roll I 8.

The head 82 of each sheet is received by the low-speed tapes I2 from the high-speed tapes 2 and 6 in the region of bend 30, over the roll 34 below and the roll 31 above. The load of stopping the sheet becomes distributed evenly across the full width of the head end 82, without any hard "pinch between the rolls 34 and 31. The sheet becomes stopped merely by the contact between the Bakelite rings 88 and, the tapes 12, which is a much softer stopping means than is I provided by the contact of the upper wheels 42,

resting by their own weight'against the lower roll 28 of the machine of the said Letters Patent.

After the head of the sheet becomes stopped between the rings 88 and the lower tapes I2, it becomes gripped or pressed on opposite sides between the tapes 12 below and the rings 88 of the upper roll 31 above. The lower tapes I2 and the upper roll 31 thus cooperate to receive the head 82 of each sheet 56, and to slow down the speed of advance of the sheet. Because of this reduc-' tion in speed, the head 62 of each sheet, as it is delivered from between the high-speed tapes 2 and 6, will lap over the tail 8'! of the prior-fed sheet, as illustrated. In overlapped relation upon the low-speed tapes 12, the sheets are then fed by the low-speed tapes l2 and cooperating short low-speed upper tapes 82 at relatively low speed the medium of two gear wheels 28 that meshwith two racks 29 upon opposite sides of the'bed of the machine. The gear wheels 28 are mounted on studs 51 that are fastened on the carriage 28, and may b'e turned by gear wheels 84 that mesh with the gear wheels 28; The gear wheels 84 are mounted upon a rod 38 that is disposed 'above the return path of the upper high-speed tapes 8 and above the respective gear wheels 28. The rod 30 and the gear wheels 84 are thus mounted out of the way, where they can not cause trouble. The gear wheels 84 may conveniently be rotated, to efiect adjustment of the carriage 26,

high speed tape, and means for producing a bend in the low-speed tape at the point where the heads of the sheets are pressed, whereby the sheets are fed at relatively low speed after their heads reach the bend.

2. A sheet-feeding machine having, in combination, upper and lower relatively high-speed tapes for feeding sheetsat relatively'high speed, lower relatively low-speed tapes between which and the upper. tapes the sheets are received, and a roll provided with a plurality of relatively soft rings disposed between successive tapes of the upper high-speed tapes to engage the relatively low-speed tapes and between which rings and the relatively low-speed tapes the heads of the sheets are engaged.

3. A sheet-feeding machine having, in combination, relatively high-speed tapes for feedin sheets at relatively high speed, relatively lowspeed tapes for receiving the sheets and feeding them further at relatively low speed, and two rolls spaced from each other in the direction of feed engaging opposite sides of the relatively low-speed tapes and positioned to form a bend in the relatively low-speed tapes, one of the rolls having a plurality of relatively soft rings disposed between successive high-speed tapes and engaging the low-speed tapes and between which and the low-speed tapes the heads of the sheets are engaged in the bend.

4. A sheet-feeding machine having, in combination, tapes for feeding sheets at relatively high speed, relatively low-speed tapes for receiving the sheets and feeding them further at relatively low speed, a roll for engaging the heads of the sheets after delivery by the high-speed tapes, an adjustable carriage in which the roll is mounted, a gear mounted on the carriage, a second gear meshing therewith, and a rackwith which the second gear meshes, the first-named gear being disposed above the second-named gear.

5. A sheet-feeding machine having, in combination, tapes for feeding sheets at relatively high speed, relatively low-speed tapes for receivfor different sheet lengths, by means of a handwheel 35 that is fixed to the rod 38.

The rolls 34 and 31 are-both shown driven by a chain 88 that drives also the rolls 28 and 80 and the tapes 82. The chain 88 is wrapped around the rolls 34 and 31 so that the carriage 26 may be moved forward and backward without any necessity for changing the chain length.

Modifications will occur to persons skilled in the art, and all such are considered to fall within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet-feeding machine having, in combination, a relatively high-speed tape for feeding sheets at relatively high speed, a relatively low-speed tape separated from and lapped by the high-speed tape for receiving the sheets from the relatively high-speed tape and feeding themfurther at relatively low speed, a roll disposed opposite to the relatively high-speed tape for engaging the low-speed tape and between which and the low-speed tape the heads of the sheets 'are pressed as the sheets are received from the ing the sheets and feeding them further at relatively low speed, a roll for engaging the heads of the sheets after delivery by the high-speed tapes, an adjustable carriage in which the roll is mounted, a second roll disposed on the carriage to one side of the first-named roll, a gear mounted on the carriage, a second gear meshing therewith, a rack with which the second gear meshes, the first-named gear being disposed above the secondnamed gear, and a chain connecting the rolls.

6. A sheet-feeding machine having, in combination, relatively high-speed tapes for feeding sheets at relatively high speed, relatively lowspeed tapes between which and the relatively high-speed tapes the sheets are received, and a roll provided with a plurality of rings respectively disposed between successive tapes of the relatively high-speed tapes to engage the relatively low-speed tapes and between which rings and the relatively low-speed tapes the heads of the sheets are engaged.

'7. A sheet-feeding machine having, in combination, means for feeding sheets at relatively high speed, relatively low-speed tapes for receiving the sheets and feeding them further at rela tively low speed, adlxed roll cooperating with the relatively low-speed tapes between which and the relatively low-speed tapes the heads of the sheets are received, and means for positively driving the roll.

8. A sheet-feeding machine having, in combination, a relatively high-speed tape for feeding sheets at relatively high speed, a relatively lowspeed tape separated from and lapped by the high-speed tape for receiving the sheets from 'the relatively high-speed tape and feeding them further at relatively low speed, a roll disposed opposite to the relatively high-speed tape and engaging the relatively low-speed tape and between which and the relatively low-speed tape the heads of the sheets are pressed as the sheets are received from the high-speed tape, and means for positively driving the roll.-

9. A sheet-feeding machine having, in combination, means for feeding sheets at relatively high speed, a relatively low-speed tape for receiving the sheets and feeding them further at relatively low speed, a roll for engaging the relatively low-speed tape and between which and the relatively low-speed tape the heads of the sheets are received, and means positioned adjacent to the roll on that side of the roll that is opposite to the direction of feed for producing a bend in the relatively low-speed tape, whereby thesheets are fed at relatively low speed after their heads reach the bend.

10. A sheet-feeding machine having, in combination, a relatively low-speed tape for feedin sheets at relatively low speed, two rolls spaced from each other in the direction of feed for engagingthe tape on opposite sides of the tape, the rolls being positioned to form a bend in the tape, and means for feeding the sheets at relativelyhigh speed to cause the heads of the sheets to be delivered to the bend between one of the rolls and the low-speed tape toslow down the speed of the sheets to that of the relatively lowspeed tape.

11. A sheet-feeding machine having, in combination, means for feeding sheets at relatively high-speed, a relatively low-speed tape for receiving the sheets and feeding them further at relatively low speed, a roll for engaging the relatively low-speed tape and between which and the relatively low-speed tape the heads of the sheets are received, a roll disposed adjacent to the firstnamed roll on that side of the first-named roll that is opposite to the direction of feed for producing a bend in the relatively low-speed tape, whereby the sheets are fed at relatively low speed after their heads reach the bends, and means for positively driving the tape and the rolls.

LOUIS L. MATTHEWS. 

